Safran jeans

Allo! I’ve been on the jeansmaking train again – it’s never too long between denim sessions chez Katie. This time it was external forces guiding me, because Deer and Doe sent over a pre-release of their new Safran jeans and pants sewing pattern to road-test and review. I’ve tried a lot of skinny jeans patterns by this point – Burdas, Style Arcs, Closet Case Files – so how do Safran stack up?

The main difference is that the Safrans are lower on traditional jeans-style details and instead tread the line towards more classic skinny trousers. Depending on fabric type you could make quite smart minimal cigarette pants in, say, a black sateen, or go ahead with denim and add plenty of topstitching for more of a jeans look. I went down the middle, using a crisp mid-blue denim but without much extra detailing.

The pattern comes with two views – A has belt loops, back pockets, a full length leg and instructions for topstitch detailing; B leaves off those details and has a just-above-ankle length. I used mostly view A with the length of view B, however I left the hems raw and staggered them slightly so the back is a bit longer. It’s a look I’ve seen in RTW that I like a lot – and hey, no hemming – bonus!

A few things of note while I sewed up the pattern:

Fabric: You’ll definitely want to heed the fabric recommendations and look for something with 20%+ stretch, because there’s plenty of negative ease factored into the hip measurement. I made a toile in lower stretch denim and while I could just about zip them up, I couldn’t move very far! My final denim is medium weight with about 20% stretch, from Woolcrest Textiles.

Sizing: I’m a 38/40 in D&D dresses and cut 40 at the waist, 42 at the hip and 38 in the lower leg. The seam allowances are a generous 5/8″ so you have some fitting wiggle room; I always baste jeans up and try them on before before final sewing as each different denim means the fit will vary a little. I could also probably take a look at a few adjustments around the crotch and knees to fix some of those wrinkles. But I really like them proportionally – the rise length is great and there’s a nice curvy waistband that stays put on the low natural waist and doesn’t gape, despite there being no back yoke or darts.

Pockets: The welted slash pockets are a nice detail that are interesting/challenging to sew and actually functionally easier to use than traditional curved jeans pockets. I’d recommend using a pocket lining fabric either with a similar stretch factor to your main fabric, or cutting your pocket lining pieces on the bias so they have some natural give. Using nonstretch cotton for lining can sometimes lead to weird distortion and drag marks, especially if you’re generous of hip like me.

Fly: The included fly instructions are different to those I’ve seen before. I tried to follow them on my toile and didn’t like the result much – the zip was only just covered by the overlap – so I deferred back to my favourite Sandra Betzina method. Overall the instructions are clear and detailed but not too hand-holdy, which works for me.

There’s lots more details and other tester versions of the Safran pattern on the Deer & Doe blog and they’re planning a series of tutorials and tips. From my point of view, if you like the adaptability of the style go to from jeans to pants, it’s a really nice versatile pattern. Just be sure to get streeeetchy fabric!

I love these and found your review helpful…I’m actually (GASP!) not overly interested in sewing jeans, but am VERY interested in a minimalist black cigarette trouser, and was wondering how these would do for an option. Super helpful review, and beautiful pants, as always!

Oh it’s great to see a review of these as I really like the look of the pattern. That said, I don’t really see these as jeans and your review confirmed it, they’re more lovely slim trousers. If I come across appropriate fabric with the 20% stretch I’ll dive in. But for the moment I think I’ll hold off.

As it’s my first time commenting here I have to say that I really admire your sewing skills, you clearly are very talented and I’ve enjoyed reading your blog.

Love the idea of a simplified jeans pattern. I have a couple of the very detailed jeans patterns that I’ve never even printed because they seem like such a big project. These seem like a good place to start!

These look awesome! I love the idea of slightly more minimalist jeans (or skinny trousers), I’ll need to look into getting this pattern. Thanks for the tip on the pocket bags, I would have completely overlooked that! Also, your teeshirt is amazing, did you make it?

These are fantastic Katie! I think they fit you perfectly, and I really would’t mess around with them too much! I’m excited to get my hands on this pattern! What’s your favourite jeans pattern so far? Or can you choose a favourite?